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Tracy Chapman
Aug. 24th, 2009 07:21 pmTangent from Renee's excellent post.
I can't stand when people badmouth Tracy's appearance or singing. She is literally THE guiding voice of my life, and I grew up wishing I could be as intelligent, thoughtful, caring, and beautiful as she is. I've found myself and no longer wish to be her, but my admiration has only increased.
When I fell asleep, I fell asleep singing "Behind the Wall", promising myself I'd never treat the person I loved like that.
When I dreamed of my future, I considered "Mountains O'Things" and knew that the pressure and the need that it spoke of was fundamental to our world.
When I helped my dad teach TKD to kids who wouldn't have a chance to learn otherwise, I remembered "Bang Bang Bang" and I feared that I'd learn one day that one of our students had been lost to violence.
When I first turned to politics Tracy asked, "Why?"
When I buried my face in my pillow so my parents wouldn't hear my crying, "She's Got Her Ticket" told me of a girl who went her own way.
When I tried to understand the self-enforced segregation of my school, I heard "Across the Lines" and looked inwards.
When I heard about Seattle, learned about globalization and started to put pieces of the puzzle together the words of "Talking about a revolution" brought me strength and focused me.
When I realized my parents didn't really like who I was going out with, "For my lover" was my theme song.
When I despaired because of America's reaction to September 11th, "New Beginning" gave me hope that we would get another chance together.
When we got married, Lissa came to meet me to "The Promise".
When Lissa came to me with tears running down her cheeks and told me she just couldn't take my transition, I cried with her, and with "Baby Can I Hold You".
When she came back to me with tears in her eyes again, told me she was going to stay I knew "Heaven's here on Earth".
When I read about Caylee Dymond I remembered "Across the Lines", and tried not to cry.
When I wake up in the morning, the spirit of her words walks beside me, guiding me towards hope, understanding, and love... asking me to realize the humanity and worth of each person I interact with in the day.
When you add the fact that many people make comments that are transphobic or heavily reliant on racist and sexist ideas of "what a woman should look like/sound/act"..... Lets just say I just don't read youtube comments about her.
I can't stand when people badmouth Tracy's appearance or singing. She is literally THE guiding voice of my life, and I grew up wishing I could be as intelligent, thoughtful, caring, and beautiful as she is. I've found myself and no longer wish to be her, but my admiration has only increased.
When I fell asleep, I fell asleep singing "Behind the Wall", promising myself I'd never treat the person I loved like that.
When I dreamed of my future, I considered "Mountains O'Things" and knew that the pressure and the need that it spoke of was fundamental to our world.
When I helped my dad teach TKD to kids who wouldn't have a chance to learn otherwise, I remembered "Bang Bang Bang" and I feared that I'd learn one day that one of our students had been lost to violence.
When I first turned to politics Tracy asked, "Why?"
When I buried my face in my pillow so my parents wouldn't hear my crying, "She's Got Her Ticket" told me of a girl who went her own way.
When I tried to understand the self-enforced segregation of my school, I heard "Across the Lines" and looked inwards.
When I heard about Seattle, learned about globalization and started to put pieces of the puzzle together the words of "Talking about a revolution" brought me strength and focused me.
When I realized my parents didn't really like who I was going out with, "For my lover" was my theme song.
When I despaired because of America's reaction to September 11th, "New Beginning" gave me hope that we would get another chance together.
When we got married, Lissa came to meet me to "The Promise".
When Lissa came to me with tears running down her cheeks and told me she just couldn't take my transition, I cried with her, and with "Baby Can I Hold You".
When she came back to me with tears in her eyes again, told me she was going to stay I knew "Heaven's here on Earth".
When I read about Caylee Dymond I remembered "Across the Lines", and tried not to cry.
When I wake up in the morning, the spirit of her words walks beside me, guiding me towards hope, understanding, and love... asking me to realize the humanity and worth of each person I interact with in the day.
When you add the fact that many people make comments that are transphobic or heavily reliant on racist and sexist ideas of "what a woman should look like/sound/act"..... Lets just say I just don't read youtube comments about her.
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